Appeals court ruling will let some Kansas
voters register, for now
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[June 11, 2016]
By Alex Dobuzinskis
(Reuters) - Thousands of Kansas residents
who signed up to vote at motor vehicle offices but were kept off the
rolls by a state law requiring proof of citizenship could be allowed to
cast ballots in the November general election, under a ruling on Friday
by a U.S. appeals court.
Kansas' secretary of state, Kris Kobach, a Republican who has
become a national leader in pushing for voting changes, had asked
the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to place on hold a decision
last month by a lower-court judge ordering the state to begin
registering 18,000 residents affected by the law.
In requesting the stay, the state said the order to begin to
register voters would "result in extraordinary confusion on November
8, 2016."
The Denver-based federal appeals court, however, rejected the
argument.
"We conclude that defendant-appellant has not made the requisite
showing for a stay pending appeal so we deny that motion," a panel
of the appeals court said in its ruling.
The appeals court has not yet ruled on the merits of the case. It
did not say when it expected it would make a decision, but it
granted expedited review.
The Kansas law will not affect the state's status as a safe
Republican stronghold in November's presidential election, but it
has thrust Kansas into a national debate over voting restrictions.
Representatives for Kobach could not be reached for comment.
The ruling comes in a lawsuit brought by Kansas residents who
submitted voter applications through state motor vehicle offices but
failed to provide proof of citizenship.
Under a state law that took effect in 2013, they were required to
present a document such as a birth certificate.
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Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach talks about the Kansas voter
ID law that he pushed to combat what he believes to be rampant voter
fraud in the United States in his Topeka, Kansas, U.S., office May
12, 2016. REUTERS/Dave Kaup
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the plaintiffs,
argued in their lawsuit that the statute conflicts with a federal
law designed to make it easier to register to vote while getting a
driver's license.
U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson, in her May 17 ruling
ordering Kansas to begin to register more than 18,000 applicants at
Division of Motor Vehicle offices who were kept off the rolls, noted
that Kansas could identify only three non-citizens who voted between
2003 and 2013.
Under Robinson's ruling, Kansas residents placed on the rolls can
vote in federal but not state elections.
Kansas will hold its primaries for state and local elections in
August.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
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